Giant hedgehog suddenly appears in Clapham Common

Bodhi, 3, stares in awe at the giant hedgehog on Clapham Common (Picture: David Parry/PA)

A massive 7ft hedgehog has been installed in south London to promote David Attenborough’s new TV series.

The life-like structure, placed in Clapham Common, took over two months to create and with 2,000 soft wood spikes is 12ft long and 8ft wide, making it larger than a rhinoceros.

The well-known animal will feature in the broadcaster’s new show Natural Curiosities, which starts on February 18 on Watch.

The hedgehog was produced using willow and coconut fibre (Picture: David Parry/PA)

Each episode will feature two creatures that, while hugely different from one another, share a ‘distinctive evolutionary quirk’.

A quarter of British adults have never seen a hedgehog in the world, according to research by UKTV, while a further 74 per cent are worried about the species’ decreasing numbers.

The new TV series starts on February 18 (Picture: David Parry/PA)

‘[The] hedgehog is one of the most familiar animals in our countryside, but actually what do people know about hedgehogs?,’ Mr Attenborough asked.

Catherine Catton, senior commissioning editor at UKTV, said: ‘This series is amazing because it takes creatures that people think they know really well but actually reveals really unknown stories behind them.’

The episode with the hedgehog will also take a look at the rhino and discuss how both ‘hide behind seemingly impregnable coat of arms’.

Other animals featured in the series include the giant squid, owls and cuckoos.